Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 492 - 129. The Sniped Azure Star

Chapter 492: 129. The Sniped Azure Star

Li Aozi listened and felt increasingly strange.

Galaxy Civilization?

Fenesis Federation?

The more he listened, the more he felt a subtle sense of déjà vu.

Then, he heard Wendy say leisurely:

"Speaking of which, this is also our luck. The Celestial Star Belt has not yet been recognized by the Interstellar Alliance, but our Empire has already discovered a planet with an indigenous civilization. As long as we cultivate contact slowly, within two hundred years, we can see them fly out of their mother star and officially become a ’civilization.’"

"May I be so bold," Li Aozi said, "isn’t it prohibited by the Interstellar Pact to foster and cultivate undeveloped civilizations? I remember clearly that they must leave their mother star through their own efforts to be recognized as ’civilizations.’"

"You don’t understand, do you? The pact is a restraint for rules-abiding civilizations. If you really want to break it, you can just pull a civilization that hasn’t signed the pact down with you, isn’t that right?"

Wendy looked at Li Aozi with deep meaning:

"The war between the Crystal Tower and the Night Butterfly Federation, seen from the big figures in the Layer Abyss, is completely meaningless. But for civilizations like yours that are not recognized, your existence up to now is very significant."

"Seeing that you look decent and handsome, I’ll tell you the unspoken rules of the Layer Abyss civilization."

"Narrative-level civilizations call the shots, we all know this. But the Starry Abyss doesn’t just have one narrative-level civilization. In this layer of the universe, Starry Abyss has six layers, and the narrative-level ranks at thirteen. Layer Abyss alone has three. In this case, if narrative-level civilizations had a major conflict, it would be easy for others to exploit the situation. They would tear each other apart, and lesser civilizations would benefit as bystanders."

To make it easier for Li Aozi to understand, she made an analogy:

"If the first, second, and third best students in a grade fight to the death, using all kinds of underhanded tactics, eventually all three end up in the hospital. The fourth, fifth, and sixth-best students take over. By the time they recover, a new order and distribution of benefits have already formed. Naturally, there won’t be a place for them anymore."

"So, the three major narratives of the Layer Abyss have actually reached a consensus by default: jointly annex and expand the Layer Abyss, only compete, and avoid wars. They sit back and watch the civilizations below fight each other while they do not take part in anything."

"This is different from your proxy wars. Wars between civilizations are of no benefit to narrative-level ones; they might even attract the arrival of the Secret Society. But if it really breaks out, and civilizations feel threatened, they would have to seek new backers, which would inevitably attract the narrative-level civilizations."

"I roughly understand what you mean: For narrative-level civilizations, war itself has no meaning anymore. It’s better to have the Interstellar Alliance provide rules set under the influence of the three major narratives so that all civilizations can follow them. If a real crisis of extinction occurs, they will definitely turn to narrative-level civilizations."

Li Aozi understood some of what she meant.

Although this idea seemed somewhat naive, from his many years of experience, it did fit her explanation quite well.

However, narrative-level civilizations are not incapable of warfare.

"Precisely. The real work of carving out territories and conquering cities is done by the subsidiary civilizations of the narrative-level ones. The core citizens of these civilizations always remain in the rear, engaged in construction and development. Our Destis Family, upon entering the Empire, is undertaking this glorious mission."

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll leak your secrets?"

Wendy raised her chin proudly:

"Leak? How many people within the Crystal Tower Civilization know the truth about narrative-level civilizations? Even if you spoke out, no one would believe you. Besides, our family’s influence is enough to erase any impact you might cause."

"Alright, you’re impressive."

Li Aozi was speechless, but he was still curious about one thing:

"Since your family is part of the Empire, why come to study on our Baizhu Star?"

"Convenience." Wendy didn’t bother to hide it at all: "Your location is too close to the Fairy Star Belt. The Fenesis Federation’s fleet is always patrolling the starfield within thirty light-years. Traveling home is just a two-day trip. It’s better to come here to enjoy the unique cultural landscape of a magic civilization."

Li Aozi’s eyes twinkled.

When she mentioned the Fenesis Federation’s fleet patrol, he had already guessed a few things.

The so-called Fairy Star Belt was actually the unnamed supernova cluster where the Azure Star was located.

In the previous life’s game plot, the storyline was indeed not fully revealed.

On Azure Star, Alicxia had found a book of advanced knowledge, "Genetic Editing Engineering." For Azure Star, it was a product capable of overturning their entire civilization.

Li Aozi had studied this knowledge and could confirm that it was not something native to Azure Star.

From Alicxia’s performance, he deduced that the Yamiriko Federation was also aided by the Fenesis Federation, possessing knowledge above the professional level—this was corroborated by his conversation with Wendy.

GTB’s predecessor had been the organization for contact between Azure Star and extraterrestrial civilizations,

Lord Entropy, the Forged Society, the Secret Society...

Back then, Li Aozi had already begun to suspect that Azure Star’s situation was far more complicated.

Ersha was Lord Entropy’s thought process. When Yamiriko first acquired advanced knowledge, Lord Entropy erupted into a thought storm, using Ersha to seal global contact.

This logic was not difficult to understand.

If Lord Entropy felt its life threatened, it would erupt a thought storm to block extraterrestrial contact. Instead of directly wiping out surface civilizations, this already proved that Lord Entropy acted out of self-defense.

In this roundabout way, one could easily find the key point.

The Empire of Heralds definitely knew of Lord Entropy’s existence.

Because they knew of Lord Entropy, they would consciously avoid provoking it to erupt, trying every possible way to handle the issue subtly.

Li Aozi even had a guess: Lord Entropy might actually become a valued asset for Azure Star.

First, Azure Star had geopolitical value, serving as a strategic springboard to attack the Fenesis Federation’s enemy—the Maxwell Consortium.

Second, Lord Entropy’s presence was akin to having a time bomb. Anyone who dared attack would face the Empire’s threat of provoking it, ending in mutual destruction.

Third, Lord Entropy’s nascent form attracted the Secret Society. It might serve as an excellent ’net’ to capture and eliminate threats to the Empire.

The more Li Aozi thought about it, the more his scalp tingled.

What he could think of, the Empire led by the Philosopher King would surely have thought through thoroughly.

The Empire not only knew of Lord Entropy but also had strategic plans to utilize it. To players, this was akin to courting disaster, but the Empire had done it and even sustained pioneer families like the Wendy Family.

What does this indicate? It indicates that the Empire not only remained unscathed but also profited greatly. Even though the Lord Entropy issue had erupted, participating pioneering families still garnered enough benefits.

This could essentially prove that blowing up Azure Star was originally a part of the Empire’s planned contingencies.

Blowing up the planet—relocating refugees—letting Galaxy Civilization pick up the players, nurturing them.

This did not remove Maxwell Consortium’s vigilance; instead, it fueled their ambition.

After version 5.0, the Fenesis Federation still clashed with the Maxwell Consortium.

In the end...after players formally joined the fray, the Maxwell Consortium declared a cease-fire two versions later, signing a peace treaty, allowing the Fenesis Federation to limit its losses.

From start to finish, the Empire never intervened directly but always kept control, regardless of how dire the situation became, all within the Empire’s expectations.

Then the question arose.

Who intentionally spread the advanced knowledge in Azure Star?

The answer was already quite evident.

The Empire would not self-destruct engineering, causing an intentional explosion, and the Fenesis Federation did not want to lose Azure Star. The Galaxy Civilization merely acted as the enforcer of the Empire’s will throughout.

The Secret Society would never share knowledge with humanity.

Ultimately, there was only one suspect left.

Li Aozi slightly tilted his head, his gaze solemn.

——Maxwell Consortium.